Strap hanger



May 3, 1955 w. J. O'CONNOR STRAP HANGER Filed Feb. 21, 1951 FIG.!

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INVENTOR WALTER J. O'CONNOR HIS ATTORNEYS United States Patent 0 STRAP HANGER Walter J. OConnor, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application February 21, 1951, Serial No. 212,160 1 Claim. (Cl. 248-60) This invention relates to strap hangers. More particularly, the invention relates to strap hangers adapted for holding pipes and cables as used by the plumbing and electrical trades.

Strap hangers are used quite extensively in the building trades for pipes and cable hanging. The hanger consists of a thin metal strip with a series of holes to receive a comparatively large nail, such nail holes arranged in uniformly spaced relation along the center line of the strip. The strips are quite flexible, and are usually bent from a straight strip to surround the pipe and hold it in the desired position. The transverse section of the strip passing L through the center of a hole at right angle to the longitudinal axis is the weakest portion of the strip, on account of the cut-out portion of the metal to form the hole. Accordingly, when the strip is bent it will not bend uniformly with a long radius curve, but will make a sharp bend at the weak position across a hole. When a series of bends are made in shaping a strip to hang a pipe, a series of sharp bends are often formed at several holes in the strip with the connecting portions between the bends being substantially tangential to a series of points on a pipe. The sharp bends are unsightly, and the strap is often so weakened at the sharp bends that it will break.

The strap with the central row of holes has another disadvantage in that the holes are comparatively small and, therefore, one end of the strap is nailed in place before the strap is passed around the pipe, then the strap is passed around the pipe and the other end of the strap must be nailed as it is held in a desired position. Pipes and cables are generally located in a place under or behind joists or girders where it is difiicult to drive nails, especially when one end of the strap must be supported in a desired position during nailing.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a strap hanger with nail perforations, that will bend or form around pipes without kinking or forming sharp bends.

Another object of the invention is to provide a flexible metal strap hanger that will readily form around pipes and cables Without breaking.

A further object of the invention is to provide a perforated flexible metal strap hanger which may be applied to a pipe, and the ends connected with nails which have been driven into a supporting member before the hanger is applied to the pipe.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the strap hanger hereinafter described and specifically defined in the appended claim.

The various features of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a flexible perforated metal strap embodying the preferred form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the strap hanger illustrating the use of the hanger in supporting a pipe on a vertical joist;

Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the hanger taken on the line IIIIII of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the hanger taken on the line IV-IV of Fig. 1.

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strap 10 which is provided with a series of elongated openings 12 that extend transversely across the major width of the strip. The axes of the elongated holes 12 are arranged at a sharp angle to the longitudinal central axis of the strap. These elongated openings are spaced at equal intervals along the length of the strap with the top portions of one opening overlapping the bottom portion of an adjacent opening. An enlarged central portion 14 is formed in each opening which is arranged to receive the head 16 of a nail 18 by which the strap hanger is secured to a supporting member such as a joist or girder. Preferably, the elongated openings 12 in the end portions thereof are comparatively narrow, having a width such that the body of a nail will move freely in the ends of the openings, and such nails will have a head of a size that will readily pass through the openings 14. Preferably, the end portions of the openings having a width to receive an eight to ten penny nail that will securely hold the hanger and the pipe or cable being supported. It larger pipes or cables are to be supported with the hangers, then the hanger will be made thicker and wider and the elongated openings will be wider to receive the larger nails.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the arrangement and shape of the openings 12 in the strip. The cross-sectional areas of the strip taken at a right angle to the longitudinal axis at substantially any point along the length of the strip are all approximately equal. These cross-sectional areas are illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4. It will be noted from these figures that although Fig. 3 shows one opening and Fig. 4 shows two openings, the total cross-sectional area of the metal of the strip at each cross-sectional point is substantially the same. By this arrangement, the strip will bend comparatively uniformly along its entire length and will form with a true long radius curve rather than with sharp bends at a weak section in the strip.

With the strap perforated as illustrated in Fig. 1, the strength of the strap will be substantially uniform along its entire length, and it may be formed around the pipe, cable, or other member to be supported without kinking or bending.

Another distinct advantage of the strap hanger illustrated in Fig. 1 consists in the enlarged portion 14 of the opening 12 which will receive the head of a nail. With this arrangement, one or more nails may be driven into the joists or girders to which the pipe is to be attached or from which it is to be hung, then one end of the strap may be slipped over the head of the previously driven nail and the strap then formed around the pipe and the other end brought in a position to pass an enlarged portion 14 of another opening in the strap across the head of a nail. in this way, the pipe and hanger can be adjusted to sup-' port the pipe in any desired position with a nail that is partly driven, and then after the strap has both ends located over a nail or nails the nails can be driven home to fix the strap in position. It will be noted that the elongated openings 12 provide a comparatively long adjustment of the strap for accurately positioning a pipe or cable in any desired position. For example, the opening may be adjusted along the nail from one end to the other and then driven into final position.

It will be obvious that the straps may be made of different type of metal, it only being necessary that the strap be strong and flexible.

The preferred form of the invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new is:

A strap hanger for pipes and conduits comprising a strip of flexible sheet metal provided with a series of 3 parallel slotted openings substantially uniformly spaced lengthwise of said strip and obliquely disposed thereof with one end of each of said openings lying upon a trans verse axis of the strip substantially intersecting the opposite end of an adjacent opening, each of said slotted openings terminating within the borders of the strip to provide closed ends, the portions of said openings adjacent totheir ends being of a width to receive the shank of a fastening member having an enlarged head, and

each of said openings being provided with a substantially 10 medially arranged enlargement adapted to pass the head of said fastening member through the strip so that by sliding engagement the shank of the fastening members may be engaged with an adjacent portion of the slot of less dimension with its head overlying the strip portions of the borders of said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 712,422 Stokes Oct. 28, 1902 1,067,540 Munger July 15, 1913 1,144,593 Heiser June 29, 1915 1,515,216 Kissinger Nov. 11, 1924 1,829,613 Soto Oct. 27, 1931 2,542,172 Wold Feb. 20, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 485,462 Great Britain May 19, 1938 

